First Impressions
by Jude Deveraux
When you crack open a brand new Jude Deveraux novel you know that you are in the hands of
a real pro, and can expect something special. Eden Palmer has single-handedly raised her
daughter Melissa, the offspring of a rape. Taken in by the irascible but kindly Mrs Farrington,
after she was thrown out by her fanatically religious parents, she came to know and love
the town of Arundel and the lovely Farrington Manor. Twenty-two years later Eden finds
out that Mrs Farrington has left her the property in her will, and she sees this as a
chance to let her newly married daughter and her husband make it on their own. But the
FBI is interested in Eden, and has sent an agent to spy on her. What is her connection
with a recently dead spy, and is solicitous solicitor Braddon Granville all he seems?
All this sounds ordinary enough perhaps, but Jude Deveraux has a way of taking the
ordinary, giving it a tweak and turning the lead of a bare plotline into the gold of
a bestseller. All the usual special magic is in here, and here is a gothic novel (which,
you remember is about "a girl who gets a house") for the twenty-first century reader.
A wonderful old house, missing jewels, secret agents, plenty of romance in the right places
as well as suspense and at the heart of it all a forty-five year old heroine, strong and
beautiful, getting her chance at last to grasp life with both hands. As well as all the
adventure, it is a story about having a second chance at life and love, uplifting and
imaginative, without descending into banality. Very highly recommended. |
The Book |
Simon & Schuster |
January 2006 |
Hardback |
0743263839 |
Romantic Suspense |
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Excerpt |
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The Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed 2006 |
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